Southern Vermont College

Donald Axinn, President Gross, Joan Axinn and Professor Tom Redden

As a leader, I have been privileged to have several remarkable mentors and friends, without whom Southern Vermont College would not be thriving. One of those mentors and friends passed away Monday night, Donald E. Axinn. Don fought a valiant and spirited fight against cancer, and his courage and passion for life were inspiring. I will miss his wisdom, his advice, his attentiveness and his belief in the possible. But, most of all, I will miss his friendship.

I miss him already.

We are lucky that Don’s amazing wife Joan serves on the SVC Board of Trustees (one of Don’s more brilliant suggestions) and I will work with her to insure that, together, we make Don’s commitment to the success of the SVC students a reality.

I leave this with a poem — Don and I shared many poems and his poetry inspired me. I read it at my inauguration as SVC’s president and I have recited it on many other occasions. Here is a poem, written by someone else, that captures Don’s passion for life.

Yo te hablo de poesia

Y tu me preguntas: a que hora comemos?

Lo peor es que yo tango hambre tambien.

Don had a hunger for life. It has and will inspire me.